MAIDENHEAD RFC’s new coach Brenton Fielke will have his first opportunity to assess the strengths and weaknesses of his squad in action when they take the field for a friendly on Wednesday.
And they will be led out by Robin Bryant, who has been handed the responsibility of leading the 1st XV this season. He has the full support of Fielke who has been impressed with the back-rower.
He said: “I’ve had long discussions with Robin about tactics and styles of play and I’ve been impressed with his knowledge and ideas.
“He has the support of the players, and he has been to every training session and given 100 per cent.”
The team will need this sort of commitment when they face the reigning army champions, the Royal Gloucester, Berkshire and Wiltshire Regiment, at Braywick on Wednesday, kick-off 6.30pm.
However Fielke is more concerned about how his players work under pressure than the result of the contest.
He commented: “We chopped and changed a few things to really find out what the guys’ best positions are. It’ll be interesting to see how they cope in a match situation.”
Off the pitch the club are content to draw a line under the comments by the now departed Andy Barron last week about the future of the club.
Chief executive Simon Edwards commented: “I am disappointed Andy left the club under such a cloud as I had spoken to him at length. I advised him to go away and improve his coaching skills and qualifications, and then come back to the club at a later date.”
He added: “That’s behind us now. We are focussing on the new season in which we expect to be challenging for promotion after finishing third last season.”